Internal combustion engine are continually being refined to increase the output of the engine as well as reduce the engine's weight and/or size. Boosting devices, such as turbochargers and superchargers, have been added to engines so that the engines may have output similar to larger displacement engines without the fuel economy and emissions of larger displacement engines. Further, vehicle fuel economy may be improved in vehicles having smaller engines at least in part because smaller engines may weigh less than larger displacement engines. Alternatively, output power of an engine may be substantially increased without adding a significant amount of weight to the engine. Additional techniques for increasing engine power such as direct injection may also be used without significantly increasing the engine's weight.
However, decreasing engine size and/or increasing engine power output can increase stress on the engine components. Such concerns may be particularly present for boosted engines which typically have a high power to weight ratio as compared to naturally aspirated engines. Therefore, some boosted engines are comprised of increased amounts of material, such as aluminum, to reinforce the cylinder block. But, increasing the amount of material used to form the cylinder block can increase engine weight, thereby undermining the basic objective of increasing the engine's power to weight ratio.
The inventors herein have recognized the challenges of boosting a weight reduced engine and have provided a structural frame. The structural frame includes a bottom surface, first and second cylinder block sidewall engaging surfaces, the first and second cylinder block sidewall engaging surfaces positioned above the bottom surface at a height that is above a centerline of a crankshaft support included in a cylinder block when the structural frame is coupled to the cylinder block.
By raising the height of structural frame sidewalls it is possible to increase the strength of the cylinder block assembly while at the same time reducing weight of the cylinder block assembly. In particular, the structural frame may provide support to the cylinder block while being constructed of a lighter weight material. Further, the structural frame may include a mounting surface for interfacing to at least a portion of a transmission bell housing. Thus, the structural frame may support and strengthen both the cylinder block and a transmission.
Further, in some examples, the structural frame may include various integrated components such as an oil pump, oil filter, cooler, oil by-pass system, and/or oil passages. When the aforementioned components are integrated into the structural frame, the compactness of the engine may be increased and engine assembly may be simplified.
This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any or all disadvantages noted in any part of this disclosure.
FIGS. 3-19 are drawn approximately to scale.